Westerdam 3/27 Observations

[OMW]

Just back from Westerdam 3/27...

 

Previously 1 Carnival, 1 RCCL , and 3 Disney cruises...(my wife has 28 previous cruises...she's only 37!!)

 

Some random criticisms and kudos:

 

Suite Check in was a bust...folks in the back of the long "steerage" line checked in before us...the old ladies behind the counter of the "S" and above line passed away a couple of years ago, they just don't know it.

 

The cabin was fantastic...great size and amenities. Tip top condition. Far superior to any cabin we have seen.

 

The Neptune Lounge was excellent. Great food and drink. A nice refuge from the crowds.

 

The concierges at the Neptune could not have been any LESS helpful. Curt, unfriendly, and generally lacking any enthusiasm. We asked for a last minute res. at the Pinnacle...we were told no by the concierge. My wife called down to Kornell (head guy at Pinnacle) and got the reservation. Many other instances I will not bore you with. Very dissapointed.

 

Cabin stewards Abby was the best.

 

Great dining room staff...although a bit slow due to what seemed to be a heavy load. The head waiter was at our table every night for lengthy conversation. The waiters remembered our drinks on the second night.

 

The Pinnacle was outstanding if you like meat!!

 

The food was generally very good...I have to say I thought Disney was better...Disney's quality increased dramatically from 2001 to 2004 and they are close to top of the line.

 

The pools were great...my kids spent 4-6 hours per day swimming...and on the last day during storms, the roof closed and have pool dome will travel!!

 

Loved the low key/not pushy style on the "extra's" ...bar drinks, soft drink packages, etc...

 

Kids club...good for the limited hours they are open...BUT they had no programs for 12 YO after 10:00 PM...plus they mixed 13-17 YO's in the same group...not a real solid or smart mixture. Luckily it was spring break and my kids had a blast as there were dozens of other kids in their respective age groups. They made their own fun outside of club HAL.

 

I know the line has no say in when they tender...BUT...we tendered at Half Moon and Grand Cayman. Half Moon's tender process is best described as a cattle call...one tender loading at a time in a hot and crowded stairwell. It sucked. It sucked so much we stayed on the ship rather than go to Grand Cayman (My wife has been on 28 cruises and hates the place anyway) and deal with another tender. They need to figure out a better way to do this.

 

Great repeater party (unlimited beverages) and Crow's nest Suite party.

 

The ship was emaculate...it looked like it was the maiden voyage.

 

The staff at the Lido could not do enough for us...and always with a smile.

 

Great class of people...I did not feel like I was on a seven day cruise with the Springer show!!

 

There you have it...some random shots on my first Holland cruise.

 

Oh by the way, we are already booked for Spring Break 2006...and we are looking in to perhaps this June ont he ZUI as well...so the kudo's FAR outweighed the criticisms...GREAT vacation.

 

OMW

[Roz]

Great review. Sounds like the positives far outweighed the few negatives. Thanks for posting. Glad you had a good experience on HAL.

 

Roz

[jhannah]

Glad you had an overall good experience on the Westerdam. The shore staff who check you in are not HAL employees, but are contracted. Too bad they weren't "with it." As to the Neptune Lounge attendant, that's another story. This person should be a top-drawer employee, IMO.

[ekerr19]

Great review, thanks! Sorry to hear about the Concierge - no excuse for that, imo. We had a great concierge last week on Volendam - she continually offered to do EVERYTHING for us, and was super great with our kids. Some folks just aren't cut out to work that type of assignment I guess - though most we've spoke to prefer working in the Neptune over the Front Desk - hands down!

 

Glad to hear you liked the ship - we will be sailing her next year and are excited.

 

You should not have had to get tender tickets though, just show your ID card - Suite guests have priority tender access, even at HMC.

[Ziggy7]

Nice review! Thanks for sharing with us!

You have a great attitude and made good use of it :)

Enjoy your next crusies :)

[woodofpine]

I generally concur. I posted the HAL newbie Westerdam thread here. GOOD Cruise!

[stanford's girl]

Nice fair and even review. Thanks for taking the time to share. :)

[grannynurse]

Just a couple of questions.

 

Why did you wait in the tender line when suite passengers have priority tender privileges? You may arrive at the gangway before the general call.

 

You may not have known that Grand Cayman and HMC have always been tender ports but the ship's onboard shorex handout and port information sheets list these details. (dock or anchor is listed beside each port).

 

I'm surprised that you attended the Mariner's (repeater") party? Has your wife sailed on HAL before?

 

Some of this information may have prevented your momentary frustrations, but live and learn. You'll know next time.

Glad you enjoyed the Westerdam.

GN

[OMW]

On the tender issue we knew we did not need tickets and did not get in line for them...the line was to get on the tender...tickets or not. It was a bad deal...trust me.

 

My wife has been on 7 Hal cruises...thus the repeater party.

[papadave]

We were on the same cruise. It was a really nice trip. I think some of the staff lost sleep after the earthquake in Indonesia and it may have had some impact on service, but the overall trip was great. 6 solid days of sunshine, one overnight rain storm, made for a nice time.

[K&RCurt]

Back in January we had 2 vastly different tendering experiences.

 

 

In St. Maarten tendering was A MESS! But the root cause was beyond HAL's control as the first 2 tenders got lines caught in their propellers at the dock. The lines were apparently left floating in the water, not the lines being cast to tie up to the pier. HOWEVER we didn't know any of this as we sat bobbing in the harbor waiting to dock for 45 min.

 

At HMC the tendering was flawless. The only wait was to get your towel and to have your card scanned......20 sec tops. As soon as one tender left the ship, another pulled up and started loading.

 

It's hard to say why things change from cruise to cruise. Perhaps the crew rotates through duty assignments and some are just more proficient than others.

Glad you had a good time and thanks for the review.

[matwags]

We were on the Westerdam 3/27-4/3 as well. This was my first Holland America cruise. Overall I have to say it was great.

 

I am sorry you had a bad experience with tendering. This was the first time we had tendered and I thought it went suprisingly well. The only time we had any wait at all was on Grand Cayman where 7 ships were docked! Even the we only had to wait about 10 minutes to board a tender back.

 

The service all around was great, in particular our wait staff, our cabin steward and the Club Hal people. Everyone was friendly and bent over backwards to keep us happy. The food overall was very good, sometimes great. The ship was spotless.

 

The ports of call were good. That being said, I probably do not need to go back to Cozumel or Jamaica. We loved Half Moon Key. Grand Cayman is one of the cleanest of the Caribean Islands, but it was pretty beat up. Plus it is hard to judge the island with 10000 tourists flooding the pier. I would probably go back there some other time.

 

The girls loved Club HAL and the staff there was great. My kids wanted to be there all the time! The facilities were about half as small as the Disney Magic, but there wer also about 1/4 of the kids.

 

The nighttime activities were actually very good. Jim Labriola, the comic, was hilarious. The juggler was really great. And my oldest daughter loved the magician. We took in a couple of movies when the kids were in club HAL.

 

I have no real complaints, a few minor annoyances which I can deal with. I mean your on vacation, how bad can it be?

 

I also want to thank all who gave great advice when I was planning our trip!

 

Cheers,

 

Matt